Nine reasons Brewers are for real

Sep 4, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Khris Davis (right) gets a high-five from third baseman Aramis Ramirez (left) after hitting a two run home run in the 2nd inning at Miller Park.
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Apr 10, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett (2) reacts after he was ejected from the game in the eighth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park.
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Apr 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun (8) sits in the dugout during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
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Apr 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez (27) walks to the on deck circle before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. St. Louis defeated Milwaukee 4-2.
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Apr 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Adam Lind (24) walks back to the dugout after striking out during the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. St. Louis defeated Milwaukee 4-2.
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Bob Uecker (left).
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The Brewers' scooter. No, not Scooter Gennett.
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The first tailgaters for Brewers 2015 Opening Day.
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Mar 11, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Members of the Milwaukee Brewers look on during the National Anthem prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.
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Feb 22, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; General view of Maryvale Baseball Park during a Milwaukee Brewers team work out .
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May 1, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jim Henderson (29) throws against the Cincinnati Reds during the eighth inning at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won 8-3.
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Apr 22, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jim Henderson (29) during the game against the San Diego Padres at Miller Park. The Padres won 2-1.
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The Brewers lost to the Rangers 5-4 in Cactus League play on Saturday at Maryvle Baseball Park.
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Sep 4, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Khris Davis (right) gets a high-five from third baseman Aramis Ramirez (left) after hitting a two run home run in the 2nd inning at Miller Park.
Image by Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Nine reasons Brewers are for real

By Ryan Topp. CREATED Apr 23, 2014

It’s hard to blame fans of a baseball franchise like the Brewers for being at least a little skeptical when very good things seem to be happening. After all, the franchise boasts just four playoff appearances in nearly a half century of play, so dealing with success isn’t something most fans have extensive experience with.

Of course there are going to be bumps in the road over the next 140-odd games. Every team deals with that, and so far the Brewers haven’t had to deal with too much in the way of negatives.

Still, something is most definitely brewing in Milwaukee right now, and it’s time to look at the team not as a shocking surprise that can’t possibly keep up this pace, but a real and legitimate contender.

Here are the first three of nine reasons that the Milwaukee Brewers are for real:

The schedule

So far in 2014, the Brewers have faced a very brutal schedule and still managed to jump out to the best record in baseball. Of the team’s first 21 games, 16 of them have come against teams that made the playoffs in 2013.

Going game-by-game, the Brewers opponents this year averaged 90.4 wins last year. It seems fair to say that some of those teams won’t be as good as they were last year and that many of them are off to uninspiring starts. Still, there remains a ton of talent on those clubs and the Brewers have dispatched them with relative ease as a group.

Pitchers avoiding hard contact

One of the surest ways a pitcher can avoid having runs score on him is to avoid hard contact from the batters. Sure, infield hits and bloop singles can hurt a team, but if pitchers avoid line drives and long fly balls, the damage is only going to be so bad.

According to ESPN.com’s proprietary statistic called Well Hit Average (WHAV) the Brewers are allowing the 4th fewest hard hit balls in MLB, at an average of 0.119 heading into play Wednesday. They’ve done this despite facing some pretty good lineups and it’s a big part of why they’re currently fifth best in baseball with a 3.24 ERA.

On the surface, this may seem like a negative, but baseball is a funny game. The season is so long that basically every player goes through some pretty significant ups and downs over the course of it.

The fact that not everyone is excelling right now means that they have some untapped potential for upside when some other players inevitably cool off.

The bench has been particularly awful in the early going, with pinch hitters accounting for a NL worst .143 batting average. Even if the current players don’t pick it up significantly, the bench is one of the easiest things to improve via trade well before the trade deadline.

One way or another, the current bench struggles don’t figure to continue all season.

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